Office Secret Santa: a guide for work teams

Make it optional

Not everyone celebrates Christmas, and not everyone has spare money in December. Ask who wants to take part instead of adding the whole team, and give a clear date to join by. Nobody should have to explain why they are sitting it out.

An invite link works well for this: post it in the team chat, and the people who want in join by themselves. The list of participants is then exactly the people who chose to be there.

Choose a budget everyone is comfortable with

Colleagues earn different amounts, so set the budget for the person with the least to spare. 50 to 100 RON, or 10 to 20 EUR, is plenty for a thoughtful gift. Give a range with a minimum and a maximum, so gifts end up comparable.

If the company pays for the gifts, say so at the start, and say how people get the money back. If it doesn't, keep the amount low.

Gifts that suit colleagues

• Things for the desk: a good notebook, a plant that survives the office, a mug that keeps coffee warm.
• Things to eat or drink, if you know the person can have them: good chocolate, tea, coffee beans.
• Things for the commute or the break: a book, a card game, a reusable bottle.
• Avoid alcohol unless you are sure, anything about someone's body or age, perfume, clothes in a size, and jokes that only work if the person laughs.

When people don't know each other well

In a large team you may draw someone you have spoken to twice. A short wishlist solves that: three or four ideas within the budget are enough for a Santa to choose from, and the gift is still a surprise.

A twist helps too. In Santa by Colour every Santa draws a colour and the whole gift sticks to it, so there is a clear place to start even when you know nothing about the person.

Managers, pairs and last year

• Managers take part like everyone else, with the same budget. A bigger gift from the boss makes the others look small.
• Couples who work in the same team can be kept from drawing each other.
• If the team does this every year, avoid last year's pairs so people get someone new.
• The organiser should not know the pairs either. It is hard to act surprised for three weeks.

Remote and hybrid teams

Colleagues who work from home can take part if the dates allow for delivery. Set the date gifts must arrive by a few days before the reveal, and collect delivery addresses in one place before the draw, so that asking for an address gives nothing away.

Open the gifts on a video call, or mix the two: people in the office open theirs in the room, the others on camera.

The reveal

• Hold it during working hours, at a team lunch or the last meeting before the holidays, so nobody has to stay late.
• Open gifts one at a time. It takes longer and it is the whole point.
• Let people guess their Santa before the names come out.
• Have one or two spare gifts ready, in case someone is off sick or a parcel is late.

Set it up in five minutes

1. Sign in with Google and create a group for the team.
2. Post the invite link in the team chat and give a date to join by.
3. Create the event: pick the format, the budget range with its currency, and the party date.
4. Add any pairs who should not draw each other, then run the draw. Nobody sees the pairs, including you.
5. Each person opens the app to see who they are buying for. At the party, start the reveal; it goes ahead once enough people approve.